Glasses-free 3D arcade machines heading to Japanese arcades

Although there’s a general push to get 3D into our movie theaters, and eventually our homes through the sale of new TVs, there’s another increasingly niche area also taking up the challenge of 3D. Japanese arcades are set to see machines sporting 3D displays, but without the need to wear glasses to view them.

SI Electronics is releasing a new arcade system board called System Board Y3 which has support for 3D output. The board has the following specs:

CPU: PowerPC 800MHz

Memory: DDR2-800 1GByte

Graphics: 2D Max 1.8 billion pixel/sec

Polygon: Max 1 billion pixel/sec

Movie Playback: Full HD

Sound: 32ch

Output: Video, Analogue, D-Sub 15pin x 2

Sound: Stereo 2ch, RCA Connector

Game I/O: JAMMA Connector, JVS I/O Connector

Serial: 1ch

GPIO: 16ch

Although not a stunningly-powerful board, it does pave the way for Japanese developers to start experimenting with 3D gaming without relying on gamers to buy a compatible TV in their homes.

We may not have long to wait to see the System Board Y3 in action as the JAMMA 2010 show kicking off later this week in Tokyo will have it on display.

In the past arcades used to get a new game first before it was ported to home consoles. That process has changed significantly with the consoles now the main focus and arcades being ignored by most developers.

3D in arcades could mean we see more games appearing there before consoles purely because it’s an easy way to get feedback for technology that is not common yet. The main focus of arcades is fighting, shmup, action-rhythm, and betting games, so we will likely see games in those categories appear first.

Arcades in Japan seem to be having a mini-resurgence anyway at the moment. Konami is releasing Metal Gear Arcade in 3D, albeit with glasses, and Taito is readying the super-widescreen Darius Burst Another Chronicle. I am certainly not going to complain about arcades becoming popular again.